AML / CFT: India's anti-terrorism tip-line - blowing the wrong whistle
India's anti terrorism tip-line is supposed to provide intelligence on members of LeT and other terrorist groups. But some in Indian society see a collateral purpose.
It's all very obvious really: set up an tip line, offer a combination of rewards and anonymity and wait for the calls to come in. After all, that's the "business model" of Crimestoppers which has effectively franchised itself across the world.
In Mumbai, a new line has been set up for information on four men who are suspected of planning a bomb attack in the city at New Year. Walid Jinnah and his three alleged accomplices are now India's most wanted.
The response from the public has been overwhelming: many calls have been received and many raids initiated.
However, the police have discerned a pattern: amongst the calls made from public call boxes, itself a strange activity given the market penetration of mobile phones, at least amongst those literate enough to read the posters inviting reports, are a high percentage of calls which appear to be motivated by some form of vendetta or "getting one's own back."
The percentage of prank or malicious reports is low when compared to the overall number but it is still high enough to cause concern.
Download PDF version of this page